Dan Ashe Debunks Prop 127 Opponents | Episode 69

The Animal Wellness Podcast

The Proposition 127 ballot initiative in Colorado has garnered national attention even as the presidential election and other national races dominate the headlines. The initiative, launched and supported by the Cats Aren’t Trophies campaign, seeks to modify state law by criminalizing, according to the ballot language, “the intentional killing, wounding, pursuing, entrapping, or discharging or releasing of a deadly weapon at a mountain lion, lynx, or bobcat.”

In this episode of the Animal Wellness Podcast, host Joseph Grove talks with Dan Ashe, the former director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and head of its National Wildlife Refuge System, the top wildlife management agency in the United States. Ashe is a vocal supporter of the Yes on Proposition 127 movement, which some consider ironic given that Ashe is a well-known hunter and proponent of hunting.

Ashe tells Grove that Proposition 127 is actually a pro-hunting initiative, given the self-regulating nature of the big cats and their propensity to cleanse deer and elk herds of animals carrying the devastating Chronic Wasting Disease. Further, Ashe says, the methods of trophy hunting–using packs of dogs with high-tech equipment so “hunters” can simply shoot the cats out of a tree–is wholly at odds with traditional “fair chase” principles associated with true hunting.

The two discuss the ethics, science, and biology supporting Proposition 127, with Ashe summarizing by saying “trophy hunting isn’t hunting. It’s killing.”

Dan Ashe's pro-Prop 127 ad can be viewed here.

Ryan Luterman-Sevel produced the episode.